Obtaining Heavenly Demon Martial Arts in the Magic Era - Chapter 59

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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59
“Ancestor…?”
‘Your words are sparse, aren’t they?’
The being calling itself an ancestor seemed displeased, his voice rising.
Cheon Do-hyeon struggled to make sense of what stood before him.
He had been one person, then two, then seven. A woman’s face rested on a youth’s shoulder, and from a child’s fingertip grew an old man’s white beard.
‘Stop trying to rationalize it. Just accept it. Otherwise you’ll only get dizzy.’
“So you’re saying… all my ancestors, combined…?”
The being before him shrugged lightly.
‘The one before you is precisely the fusion of every generation—from the first to the fifty-seventh. All your forebears, merged into one form.’
“……!”
Fifty-seven generations meant his father, Cheon Song-gyeong,
and his grandfather, Cheon Woo-hyeok, were included.
He wanted to beg them to summon his father and grandfather at once,
but first, it was crucial not to offend ‘these beings.’
Cheon Do-hyeon prostrated himself immediately.
“I bow before you, my ancestors.”
First, he would win their favor.
‘Heh heh… very good.’
The being’s expression finally showed satisfaction.
“You mentioned you’re a merged existence—but how should I address you…?”
‘Hmm. Simply call me ancestor, as you have been…’
‘No, wait—call me senior… senior? What am I saying! Previous Celestial Demon…’
A heated debate erupted over the proper form of address.
Faces and bodies transformed before his eyes in real time.
It was a sight he would never forget.
When would he ever witness multiple personalities inhabiting a single body, arguing amongst themselves?
Standing at the front row watching, it was both wondrous and terrifying.
“Forgive my interruption. Might one representative come forward and explain? I believe that would allow for more coherent conversation.”
‘…………’
They fell silent at Do-hyeon’s words.
While they seemed offended by his boldness, his proposal was so rational that they wavered.
‘That would be for the best, I suppose. Then…’
‘It is only right that the principal one steps forward. Would you not agree?’
‘…………’
Black robes, hair white as snow, yet the face of a youth unmarred by wrinkles.
Sharp, refined features.
Broad shoulders.
The momentum emanating from his majestic frame made Do-hyeon’s body stiffen involuntarily.
As he stepped forward, the commotion ceased instantly.
There was nothing ordinary about this man—but who could he possibly be?
‘Ahem. I regret the commotion and lack of composure. I, as their representative, shall offer explanation.’
He cleared his throat once, then revealed his identity.
‘My name is Moo-geuk. I am your ancestor, the founder of your line.’
Though his voice was not loud, the weight contained in those words left Do-hyeon’s ears ringing.
‘This man is the First Celestial Demon.’
The one who had founded the Celestial Demon Sect stood before Cheon Do-hyeon.
Do-hyeon’s heart hammered once, powerfully. The founder gazed at him steadily.
‘My successor.’
His voice resonated as if it were striking the very soul itself. Do-hyeon felt his body tremble involuntarily.
He walked with hands clasped behind his back, moving leisurely through the formless space as though taking a stroll.
‘The moment you set foot in the Celestial Demon Temple, you were drawn here by the will of your forebears. Only those with true qualification—only the legitimate successor—may enter the Celestial Demon Palace.’
The founder’s gaze swept over Do-hyeon from head to foot.
‘And now, we shall test your qualifications and begin the succession ritual to entrust you fully with the Celestial Demon Palace.’
“……!”
A trial, suddenly?
‘Of course, refusal is not an option.’
“…….”
A trial from which there was no refusal.
Moo-geuk, the First Celestial Demon, extended his hand into the void.
Blink—
He’d simply closed his eyes for a moment and opened them again.
A Steel Rod was gripped in his hand.
Thud—
The moment Moo-geuk struck the ground with the Steel Rod, empty space transformed in an instant into a vast Martial Arena.
『The trial is simple. From now on, you shall duel with me and all the previous Celestial Demons, one by one.』
“Ugh….”
A groan escaped him unbidden.
『If you fail to meet each one’s passing threshold, you cannot advance to the next duel.』
The First Celestial Demon stretched his body, twirling the Steel Rod like taffy as he continued.
『The trial ends only when you have successfully completed all duels through the fifty-seventh.』
The number alone: fifty-seven times.
Even adding three minutes of standard sparring time per duel,
that’s one hundred seventy-one minutes.
Without rest, nearly three hours.
But the beings before him were each called a ‘Celestial Demon’ in their own era.
“Doesn’t this trial become increasingly unreasonable for later generations?”
『If you’re unhappy about it, you should have been born earlier.』
“…….”
The tone of a senior soldier bullying a new recruit.
“I fear my stamina won’t hold out.”
『Don’t worry about that. This place is the Illusory Realm—you need no food, no drink, no sleep.
And more than that, it matters not if your bones break or your flesh tears. Even if you experience death itself… you won’t truly die.』
The last line hung in the air with deliberate weight…!
『I apologize to say it, but successor, you have no choice. For the sake of your companions outside, you must receive a legitimate Succession, no matter what.』
As Moo-geuk stretched out his hand, the Illusory Realm briefly reflected the situation outside.
It showed the figures of his companions as they entered the Celestial Demon Temple.
—Aaaaaaah!
They were being hunted by enemies of a higher caliber than the Ghostly Guards they’d faced in the Inner Fortress.
“That, that is—!”
Those pursuing Lee Dae-gwang, Lee Ye-rim, and Je-gal Seo-rin drew forth Inner Force Energy from their hands without even exerting effort.
Each of them was at Peak Master Tier level.
Among the group, was there anyone with the skill to face Peak Master Tier enemies?
There was not.
Cold sweat poured down, his palms grew slick.
And a fundamental question arose.
What did receiving a Succession have to do with saving companions whose lives hung by a thread?
“How can receiving a legitimate Succession save my companions?”
Moo-geuk answered readily.
『A Celestial Demon is the Celestial Demon Sect itself. If you become the legitimate fifty-eighth Celestial Demon, you would be able to bring even those demonic corpses under your command. Thus you could save them—those outside.』
So there was no choice after all.
What mattered was whether he could endure until his companions passed the trial.
No—there was no time for such worries.
Cheon Do-hyeon steadied his resolve.
“……Yes, I will undergo the trial.”
A disreputable smile spread across the First Celestial Demon’s face, unseemly for his dignity.
『It took you terribly long to make up your mind. Good. Let us begin.』
#
The First Celestial Demon.
It was laughable to measure age against a being who had endured the vast flow of time,
yet among all the Celestial Demons he would face, this one was the least mature.
For that reason, he’d harbored a small hope.
That in the fifty-six duels yet to come, perhaps mercy would be shown.
But that hope shattered along with three ribs on his left side.
‘…?!’
It happened at the first clash.
Whoosh—
The end of the long rod he’d blocked twisted like a living serpent and drove into his left abdomen.
It was an iron rod without Inner Force Energy wrapped around it.
Moo-geuk had effortlessly shattered Cheon Do-hyeon’s ribs—reinforced by internal cultivation—with pure strength alone.
“Ugh!”
A cry tore from his lips unbidden.
Cradling the wound, he scrambled backward to open distance.
Whoosh—
But even that proved difficult.
Moo-geuk pursued faster than Cheon Do-hyeon could retreat.
The Celestial Demon Shadow Step.
As he tried to shake off his pursuer by stepping through the footwork,
Bang, crack-crack, bang!
The Celestial Demon Shadow Step was a divine art that utilized one hundred and eight directional positions to scatter illusions across the surrounding area.
Which meant the form of footwork he needed to follow was rigidly fixed.
The First Celestial Demon wielded his Steel Rod at imperceptible speed, cutting off the very process of Do-hyeon deploying his footwork.
“…!”
A counter-technique he’d never heard of nor witnessed.
Boom—
With no path forward to step upon, Do-hyeon panicked and stumbled, crashing down in an ungainly heap.
‘Tsk, tsk, tsk.’
Moo-geuk looked down at him with contempt.
‘Successor. Watching you wield martial arts, the Celestial Demon Divine Art looks like a pearl necklace hung around a pig’s neck.’
“….”
Cheon Do-hyeon’s face flushed with shame.
Yet as time passed, he felt his body gradually recovering.
‘If your body has mended, why can’t you stand faster? If you lack skill, at least show some spirit.’
Moo-geuk seemed to sense Do-hyeon’s physical condition with uncanny precision.
‘Come at me again. There’s nothing about you from top to bottom that pleases me,’
he said, spinning the Steel Rod left and right in lazy arcs.
‘But your footwork is particularly appalling.’
Whoosh— whoosh— whoosh—
The Steel Rod split the air, creating a fearsome sonic boom.
‘Evade it just ten times, and you’ll pass.’
“….”
He hadn’t managed to dodge even once until now… Ten times?
#
The trials with the Celestial Demons had begun.
When he’d thought of the previous Celestial Demons before this,
his feelings had been colored by vague admiration.
Were they not the ones who had defended the entire Murim from the Demonic Righteous Clan’s ambitions?
But now, having faced them directly, his perspective had changed.
‘Not a single one of them is sane….’
‘Faster! Faster! Faster! Your feet are too slow! A snail would move quicker than you!’
Somehow, Do-hyeon had shifted from being a ‘successor’ to being a ‘wretch’ in their eyes.
And it seemed each Celestial Demon placed importance on a different martial art.
After satisfying the First Celestial Demon Moo-geuk, who obsessed fanatically over footwork,
‘It is the Second: Dan-wol.’
A lean frame. Eyes cold as ice.
A beautiful man whose features brought to mind a woman.
In his hand lay a single Straight Sword, mirror-smooth and gleaming.
‘Draw your blade, youngest.’
Dan-wol tested Do-hyeon’s mastery of the Celestial Demon Sword Art.
Slice—
The blade cast a long shadow across the obsidian floor.
‘I will strike exactly one hundred times.’
Dan-wol’s voice fell cold and measured.
‘Block the hundred-and-first strike, and you pass.’
What was one hundred?
He’d been slashed ten thousand times over before succeeding once.
The Third Celestial Demon’s appearance was closer to that of a beast than a human being.
A height well over two meters.
Fists the size of an adult’s head.
With every step he took, the weight alone on his soles carved faint fissures across the Martial Arena floor.
‘Heh heh. The Third Generation Tyrant.’
Gwang-pae flexed his thick fingers, cracking them one by one.
‘If a man is born into this world, he ought to topple at least one fortress with his bare hands.’
Gwang-pae was testing only Cheon Do-hyeon’s External Martial Power.
The moment Cheon Do-hyeon set the Cloud Transport Sword aside,
Bang—
Gwang-pae’s fist slammed into Cheon Do-hyeon’s chest.
Cheon Do-hyeon’s body flew beyond ten paces.
He rolled across the Martial Arena floor twice, three times.
“……Ugh.”
Blood wet the corner of his mouth.
Slowly.
But steadily, he continued the trial combat.
While trapped in the Illusory Realm, as worry gnawed at him for his companions in peril,
‘Heh heh, you do have a suspicious nature, don’t you, senior? But fear not, boy. The time-flow of this Illusory Realm differs from the waking world.’
There was also a kind-hearted Celestial Demon who set his mind at ease.
Of course, once the trial combat began,
‘The Fifth Generation Black Lake. If a candidate for Celestial Demon cannot even wield Demonic Energy, how could he be called Celestial Demon at all?’
He became the one who tormented Cheon Do-hyeon for the longest duration.
‘Again!’
‘Again!!!’
As the duels accumulated, the gaps in Cheon Do-hyeon’s prowess were gradually filled.
And so, without even realizing it, Cheon Do-hyeon was honed and refined under the hands of his seniors, beginning at last to carry the stature befitting the name Celestial Demon.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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